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Since my last post, I had a birthday. I turned 29 on 1 August, which both my boyfriend and my uncle pointed out to me was actually my THIRTIETH year.

Thanks guys.

So, we had a White Trash/Hillybilly party to celebrate. Costume, mandatory. The cooks amongst us also brought food, though I dare say it was a bit posh for the theme (no one could bare to eat hotdogs and Kraft Dinner).

We had roast pork belly, quesadillas, guac, fully-loaded nachos, fried chicken, and some salad and carrot sticks just to make us feel less guilty. My contribution was the dessert: Cigarette Butt Cupcakes, behold –

mmmm, chocolate carcinagy goodness...

I came up with the idea on my own, and I’m quite pleased with how they turned out! I used my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe from Chockylit with a cream cheese vanilla frosting. The ‘ash’ is made of crushed up Oreos mixed with icing sugar, and the ‘butt’ is dyed shortbread, which I rolled into butt-size pieces and coated in sesame seeds before baking. Once they came out of the oven and cooled, I dipped them in melted white chocolate and then into the ash.

Voila!

cough, drool, cough

These were taken on my iPhone, hence the blur, but you get the point.

I also wanted to have Twister at the party, but balked at the EUR 30 price tag at the toy store, so decided to make one myself using felt and some spare muslin I had in my fabric stash. It worked a treat!

That's how we do it in the South, ya'll

For my costume, I went with jean shorts, a white ribbed tank, knee-high sports socks, old grungy runners with the laces + tongue pulled out, a fake ‘tramp stamp’ tribal tattoo (on my lower back of course), a gold-cap on my front tooth, and horrendous make-up.

Call me Brenda Lee:

Brenda Lee shows off her tramp stamp

So we partied hard to the tunes of G’n’R, Billy Rae Cyrus, Scorpion, Twister Sister, Bon Jovi and other hits from the deep south (and the 80s).

we know how to party

Aren’t we PERDY?

A whole lotta brother-cousins and sister-mothers

And here’s me with my man, Delray:

we's gunna have some perdy chirruns

It was a fantastic party. A HUGE thanks to co-birthday girl Sookie/Nikki and Earl/Aidan for letting us throw down at her sweet pad. And also thanks to all my really sweet friends that accompanied me in my 8-hour vodka birthday odyssey.

I got some awesome gifts too. My man Delray got me a 60-minute massage voucher, a gift certificate for a cake decorating course, a cake decorating book, and a cupcake recipe book. I also got a great kitsch tray and a magnetic dress-up Michelle Obama set and a gift certificate for a cool cake decorating shop from my lovely colleagues.

Is this how I’ll sleep in my 30s?
So, I track my sleeping patterns using an iPhone app called Sleep Cycle. Here’s a typical night’s sleep:

How I slept at 28

And here’s how I slept my first night as 29:

practically dead

A sign of things to come? When I”m 40, will I have to sleep with a heart rate monitor just to make sure I’m still breathing? IS THIS MY FUTURE?